Influenza, Pregnancy, and Bi-Polar Disorder’s Relationship

The JAMA published a story about a study of 814 pregnant women. It was determined that there was a relationship between contracting influenza while expecting, and bi-polar disorder in certain cases.

The risk is low, but there is a four times higher risk. The same results have shown a relationship with the flu and schizophrenia. The JAMA says that women should not be overly concerned, but that they should receive vacinations to prevent, or lesson the symptoms, of influenza.

Bipolar disorder leads to extreme mood swings, which, in some cases, may last for months. Emotions may exist from depression or despair, to manic joy, over activity, and a loss of inhibitions.

Researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center performed the study and discovered the relationship when the diagnosis was made of teens and those in their early twenties, and they discovered a connection to their mother’s maladies when they were in the womb.

The lead researcher, Professor Alan Brown, said that approximately 1 out of 100 cases were determined to be related the influenza. The chances of a child being affected were 3-4%.

The fetus is not directly affected by the virus. It is believed to be a result of the effect on the mother’s immune system.

Other tests performed in a 2004 study, reported that if an impregnated woman contracts the flu in the first half of her pregnancy, the chance of the fetus being affected by schizophrenia later is life is three times more likely.

The research, led by New York’s Columbia University, is published in Archives of General Psychiatry. They believe that as many as 14% of those diagnosed with schizophrenia are related to the flu virus invading their mother’s while pregnant.

The study was performed using stored samples from 64 patients with schizophrenia, and 125 without.

The cause of the resulting condition is uncertain. One theory is that when the woman contracts the flu virus, the antibodies released by her immune system interact with the developing immune system of the fetus. The increase in the mother’s body temperature may also contribute to the cause.